The times, they are a-changin’. Headlines in every major newspaper foretell the supposed “death of the high street” and a certain bakery chain has caused a strange mixture of delight and outrage with the unveiling of its new vegan Quorn sausage roll. For music and media retailer HMV, it looks like a rescue operation is going to be required for the second time in six years to save the company from bankruptcy, after it was announced the company had fallen into administration just after the Christmas period.

Back in 2013 the company was saved by restructuring giant Hilco, but even the efforts of a £50m deal with Hilco doesn’t seemed to have helped in the face of plunging sales and an “extremely weak” festive trading season. Of course, you have to empathise with the 2200 employees of HMV and FOPP whose jobs may be on the line in the months to come, but this news comes as little surprise from a company that hasn’t kept up with the demands of changing times, writes Penny Anderson in the Guardian.

I recently attended one of several special gigs at the O2 Brixton by one of the hardest working people in the British music scene, Four Tet. It has to be said that I’ve rarely been to a gig that was as uplifting as this it was a uniquely intimate, shared experience. Fans wanting to see the show had to become a “verified fan” on Ticketmaster, and tickets were sold at the incredibly accessible £8 a piece.

The uniqueness of the gig came from a stage configuration I was not previously aware of, comprising of Four Tet (aka Kieran Hebden) in the middle, with the audience set around him. There was no light show or visuals (something he leaves for special occasions) and the gig had something akin to being sat with at home in his studio, the only lighting being provided by 2 angle poise desk lamps. The atmosphere in the concert hall felt nourishing, blissful even, as each track blended effortlessly with the next.

There was, however, an incident that took place towards the end of the set that, although it has to be said, was pretty minor, took me out of the moment and gave me some thinking to do about a problem that is facing every artist in the live circuit: that is the use of mobile phones at gigs. Hebden began to round off the show with the track “Morning Side” a sublime, radiant track totalling 20 minutes in length.We were about halfway through the track when an audience member standing side on to the front began filming on her phone.

After gearing back up after the festive period, we are excited to announce that the new year brings with it many things, best of all this includes new music!

Below we’ve put together what we can share with you about a few of our artists upcoming releases!

The Blackheart Orchestra- “Mesmeranto”. Described by the band as “adventurous”, it sees the group building on an incredibly successful 2018 that saw them support Hawkwind on their UK tour, releasing their album Diving For Roses to rave reviews, being nominated for the Limelight Award at the Progressive Music Awards and wrapping off 2018 with a beautiful intimate show at St Pancras Old Church in December. 2019 will see an extensive headline tour In support of the album, with the band playing dates in January, February and April.

So, we prepare to say goodbye to 2018 an intriguing year for all. Things rarely enter periods of stasis in the music industry, but this year has seen paradigm shifts in politics, economics, and a calling into question of the place the UK occupies on the world stage.

Well, that’s the gloomy bit out of the way! There have been many exciting things this year for all of us here at Wardlaw. Producer Wizzy Wow was nominated for “Best Contemporary Song” at the Ivor Novello Awards, several new acts have joined our roster, we’ve seen lots of new releases from our artists (with exciting tours to boot), and have secured many placements in film, TV and trailers!

Love them or hate them, Christmas songs are an inevitable part of the festivities and celebrations that lead up to Christmas day.

Picture yourself, frantically running around the supermarket, grabbing the last few items off the empty shelves, desperately trying to keep your sanity, as yet another a chorus of Slade’s “Merry Xmas Everybody” drills into your ear, reminding you that, alas, it’s only just beg-uuuu-uuunnnnn.

So to get you all feeling Christmassy, we’ve put together a few festive treats from the Wardlaw catalogue!

There are few things more powerful, and that fill an artist with greater joy than a packed out venue, all singing along to a song that you wrote. Dan Reed Network had this experience last Tuesday at The Garage in Glasgow, a show that they played to a glowing review from Down the Front media (pictures and full band review available here)

The band is set to play 4 more dates on it’s UK tour: Stoke on Trent, Derby, London and finishing in Manchester. The band have been very warmly received in every city they’ve visited, and have always delivered a belter of a show to audiences, matched equally by support acts Mason Hill and Hollowstar.